In Canada, there are 850,000 children living with disabilities or developmental differences, yet there are only 150 developmental pediatricians who specialize in this area, with a number set to retire over the next few years.

The Division of Developmental Paediatrics is helping to address the acute shortage of developmental pediatricians in the country by building capacity in the health-care system through its innovative Developmental Paediatrics Subspecialty Residency and Fellowship Program funded by the province and donors – the largest training program of its kind in Canada.

Building capacity

Currently, five residents and fellows from across Canada, Africa and Kuwait, are enrolled in the two-year training program where they are completing their core training rotations at Holland Bloorview as well as at other community sites. The trainees are medical graduates who are doing further training in developmental pediatrics through which they will become specialists in childhood disabilities. They also participate in additional projects related to  advocacy (i.e. – championing literacy skills) and quality improvement (i.e. – increase registration rates for a client portal in Holland Bloorview’s neuromotor clinic). 

“We are training the next generation of developmental pediatricians who can enhance care provided to children and youth with disabilities through their clinical, academic and scholarly work,” says Dr. Angela Orsino, program director and developmental pediatrician. “This program prepares residents and fellows to practice as competent developmental pediatricians and fosters scholarly inquiry.”

Dr. Anne Kawamura, head of the Division of Developmental Paediatrics at the University of Toronto, adds: “In addition to training individuals who can fill positions in children’s treatment centres and community practices, there is a growing need to train academic developmental pediatricians in Canada to ask critical questions, to challenge our norms and current thinking, and to transform care for children and youth with disabilities in Canada.”

Spotlighting Roszel Research Day

As part the program, the residents and fellows develop their scholarly inquiry by completing a research project, where they had an opportunity to present their findings at the 19th annual Division of Developmental Paediatrics Roszel Research Day and Dr. Tamarah Kagan-Kushnir Invited Lectureship. 

The event enables the trainees to receive critical feedback from experienced researchers on their presentations and projects, which supports their ongoing growth and development of their research skills.

This year, some 30 clinicians, researchers and former residents and fellows attended the event last month. 

“Roszel Research Day is an opportunity for our residents and fellows to explore how research and scholarly work can contribute to the care of children and youth with disabilities and to consider how these important discoveries and new understandings can lead to meaningful change in the field of developmental pediatrics,” says Dr. Kawamura, who is also a developmental pediatrician and clinical investigator.

Dr. Kawamura added that she was especially delighted to have developmental paediatrician Dr. Angie Ip deliver this year’s lectureship as she is a graduate of the training program and is “doing incredible work reconceptualizing how we provide care to all clients with neurodevelopmental conditions and neurodiversity - focusing on their needs rather than diagnosis.”

Meet this year’s residents and fellows

The residents and fellows presented their impactful research projects that touched on wide-ranging topics. 

Dr. Jillian McCarthy, a first-year subspecialty resident in the program, completed her medical school and general pediatric training in Newfoundland and Labrador. The former teacher and current children’s author presented her project which will explore resident impressions of a developmental pediatric board game in the academic half-day setting.

Dr. Courtney Larsen, a first-year subspecialty resident whose research interests include care of medically complex clients, shared her presentation on general pediatric residents’ experiences in developmental pediatrics from a national perspective.

Dr. Ayedh Alhajri is a second-year subspecialty resident in the program who will return to his home country of Kuwait after his training to  become the first academic developmental pediatrician. He will also join the Faculty of Medicine at Kuwait University as an assistant professor. He presented his work on the exploration of residents’ self-perception as teachers at the event.

After completing her undergraduate medical training at McMaster University and pediatric residence at Western, Dr. Madison Links is finishing her subspecialty training as a second-year resident. She presented her scholarly project, Learning from Our Mistakes: Exploring the Tension Between Productive Failure and Demonstrating Competence.

Dr. Lilian Kerubo Agufana, a first-year developmental pediatrics clinical fellow, presented her body of work on family-centred care for children with cerebral palsy in Kenya.

As a former pediatrician working in a community hospital in Kenya in East Africa, she is passionate about childhood wellness and creating programs to improve the health outcomes of children in collaboration with their families. 

“The training at Holland Bloorview is so impactful. I have interacted with the pioneers of the field of developmental pediatrics and learnt through their mentorship and encouragement how to support families that have children with disabilities and developmental differences including cerebral palsy. This is the knowledge and skill that enable me to meet the needs of families in Kenya and advocate for the improvement of the rehabilitation services in Kenya.”